Close Reading Activity Fish Cheeks Amy Tan I fell in love with the minister’s son the winter I turned fourteen. He was not Chinese, but as white as Mary in the manger. For Christmas I prayed for this blond-haired boy, Robert, and a slim new American nose. When I found out that my parents had invited the minister’s family over for Christmas Eve dinner, I cried. What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners? What terrible disappointment would he feel upon seeing not a roasted turkey and sweet potatoes but Chinese food? On Christmas Eve I saw that my mother had outdone herself in creating a strange menu. She was pulling black veins out of the backs of fleshy prawns. The kitchen was littered with appalling mounds of raw food: A slimy rock cod with bulging eyes that pleaded not to be thrown into a pan of hot oil. Tofu, which looked like stacked wedges of rubbery white sponges. A bowl soaking dried fungus back to life. A plate of squid, their backs crisscrossed with knife markings so they resembled bicycle tires. And then they arrived—the minister’s family and all my relatives in a clamor of doorbells and rumpled Christmas packages. Robert grunted hello, and I pretended he was not worthy of existence. Dinner threw me deeper into despair. My relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table, dipping them into the dozen or so plates of food. Robert and his family waited patiently for platters to be passed The story begins with “I.” What does the first paragraph tell us about “I”? The story takes place on Christmas Eve. Why might the author have chosen this event as part of the setting? What is the irony in the words, “I cried”? Paragraph two contains three questions. What point is the speaker trying to make by asking questions instead of making statements? In paragraph three, underline the words that describe the food Mother is preparing for the Christmas Eve dinner. What attitude or tone do the descriptions give this paragraph? (Consider who is speaking and who is the larger audience.) For paragraphs five and six, highlight the clash of cultures with two different colored highlighters or with circles and squares around key words. Explain the differences. to them. My relatives murmured with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed fish. Robert grimaced. Then my father poked his chopsticks just below the fish eye and plucked out the soft meat. “Amy, your favorite,” he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear. At the end of the meal my father leaned back and belched loudly, thanking my mother for her fine cooking. “It’s a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied,” explained my father to our astonished guests. Robert was looking down at his plate with a reddened face. The minister managed to muster up a quiet burp. I was stunned into silence for the rest of the night. After everyone had gone, my mother said to me, “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside.” She handed me an early gift. It was a miniskirt in beige tweed. “But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.” And even though I didn’t agree with her then, I knew that she understood how much I had suffered during the evening’s dinner. It wasn’t until many years later— long after I had gotten over my crush on Robert—that I was able to fully appreciate her lesson and the true purpose behind our particular menu. For Christmas Eve that year, she had chosen all my favorite food. What action seems to be the climax of the story? Circle it. Why did you choose this moment? How does your choice conform (or not) to a typical plot pattern? What is the mother’s message to her daughter? How does the “miniskirt in beige tweed” highlight both the mother’s message and the mother’s character? What is the irony of the last line of the story? Why has the speaker placed this idea at the end of the story instead of in the paragraph about the preparation of the food? When is the storyteller telling the story? What perspective does the choice give to the message of the story? Writing Connection: In a well-developed paragraph (essay) explain the importance of Amy Tan’s central message. You may wish to include the build-up of plot, the shift in tone, or the perspective of the point of view.
